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Birvan β€” Hexapod's Evolutionary Chart

Published: 2012-04-01 02:11:59 +0000 UTC; Views: 43549; Favourites: 826; Downloads: 592
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This is something I've been working for quite some time now, ever since I came up with the idea for this in 2009
And eventually it became tied to my world concept

Anyway this whole thing started with a cousin of the lobe-finned fish. Instead of using only 2 pairs of limbs for locomotion it used 3, which led to the prehistoric 6 limbed reptile that birthed the entire hexapod family tree

One of the family lines grew a colorful interdigital membrane to intimidate opponents and attract partners. Eventually that membrane gained a new function, which led to the development of wings
One particular sub-family developed a feather coat, initially to survive better in colder climates. Eventually it replaced the membrane, since it was more efficient
While one of the species retained the claws and hunting habits, the other favored speed on land and a more varied diet

The other main family line is the mammalian, which focused more on using all 6 limbs for locomotion. Over time those limbs led to particularly nimble and dextrous fingers
One of the sub-families managed to grow quite huge, valuing strength and size over speed. That also meant they needed large quantities of food, so the 1st set of limbs grew longer and pushed the body into a vertical position and put more pressure on the 3rd set. Eventually the 2nd vanished completely
The other sub-family valued speed, using the 1st set of limbs to grab and carry food, while the other 2 took care of the locomotion. The 2 descending species are still closely related, though one of them learned how to use fire and doesn't need such a large jaw as its cousin
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Comments: 198

horse14t [2014-03-24 04:05:27 +0000 UTC]

Hmm...I wonder where the pegasus would fit.

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Birvan In reply to horse14t [2014-04-01 08:19:12 +0000 UTC]

It's already there, in the bottom left corner *I need to improve the design though*

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horse14t In reply to Birvan [2014-04-01 14:49:47 +0000 UTC]

Oh, lol I thought that was a Hippogryph.

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theshinymeganium In reply to horse14t [2014-12-16 18:17:00 +0000 UTC]

the Hippogryph wold evolve from the Gryphon though not along side it as Hippogryph are made when a horse and Gryphon bread.

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Birvan In reply to horse14t [2014-04-17 22:43:40 +0000 UTC]

Easy mistake to make

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SheTheTDE [2014-01-15 09:50:17 +0000 UTC]

I feel you've left a couple off this list. But I do love this chart.

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Birvan In reply to SheTheTDE [2014-01-15 14:57:26 +0000 UTC]

I'm thinking of expanding it, so you can make suggestions if you like

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SheTheTDE In reply to Birvan [2014-01-16 23:42:14 +0000 UTC]

Another one is the Taresque

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Birvan In reply to SheTheTDE [2014-01-18 12:08:54 +0000 UTC]

Oh, good one

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SheTheTDE In reply to Birvan [2014-01-18 14:46:43 +0000 UTC]

thank you

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SheTheTDE In reply to Birvan [2014-01-15 22:23:30 +0000 UTC]

Well there's the manticore and the regular winged lion for one.

oddly most of the creatures I can think of right now are octopods.

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Birvan In reply to SheTheTDE [2014-01-15 23:55:06 +0000 UTC]

Manticores are originally quadrupeds (I don't agree with the winged versions), but winged lions are definitely an hypothesisΒ 


Lol XD

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SheTheTDE In reply to Birvan [2014-01-16 05:54:39 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I don't particularly like the wingedΒ manticores either, it's just the popular version. Personaly, I always depict them as a sort of hairless primate that reverted back a little and became similar to lions.

Have you considered adding the fish and amphibian stages to the top of the tree?

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Birvan In reply to SheTheTDE [2014-01-18 12:11:04 +0000 UTC]

I still stick to the traditional (and original version)

Honestly I never thought much about their evolutionary line. That's an interesting concept


I have some ideas for fish, but not much for amphibians

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SheTheTDE In reply to Birvan [2014-01-18 14:46:21 +0000 UTC]

Salamanders and Basalisks are often depicted with six legs but neither is the original form.


A four winged bat and four winged bird come up often also. The Bird is called Ouzlem I believe.

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Birvan In reply to SheTheTDE [2014-01-20 08:40:37 +0000 UTC]

I think those are recent interpretations, trying to stand out from the norm. The Oozlum bird can look like a regular bird just as well. What defines it is the weird flight pattern

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SheTheTDE In reply to Birvan [2014-01-20 09:41:30 +0000 UTC]

All true. It's really hard to find hexapedal vertebrates for your list.

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Birvan In reply to SheTheTDE [2014-01-21 14:36:43 +0000 UTC]

That's why I like to add a few non seemingly hexapods for diversity. But not all fit

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SheTheTDE In reply to Birvan [2014-01-21 21:41:31 +0000 UTC]

I'm not sure what you mean there.

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Birvan In reply to SheTheTDE [2014-01-21 21:56:47 +0000 UTC]

I have a couple of species I want to add that are not currently hexapods

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SheTheTDE In reply to Birvan [2014-01-22 05:16:02 +0000 UTC]

ok

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ZaubererbruderASP In reply to ??? [2013-11-13 06:35:14 +0000 UTC]

Interesting concept, but with all those similaritys to Birds, Humans, Ungulates and other animals not related, it would need massive convergent evolution to work like this
Though, i really like it, it's an attempt I didn't think about when writing about Dragons with 6 limbs

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Birvan In reply to ZaubererbruderASP [2013-11-16 10:37:02 +0000 UTC]

Considering the end result I needed to obtain, it's not surprising me mimicking the existing evolutionary lines


But yes, it does need some polish

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ZaubererbruderASP In reply to Birvan [2013-11-17 18:03:28 +0000 UTC]

Still, it's really good work. I love the dragon and "bird"-ancestor

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Birvan In reply to ZaubererbruderASP [2013-11-17 18:18:21 +0000 UTC]

Hehe, screeching little thing XD

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ZaubererbruderASP In reply to Birvan [2013-11-17 19:47:52 +0000 UTC]

I like it

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Birvan In reply to ZaubererbruderASP [2013-11-17 20:45:47 +0000 UTC]

XD

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RavingShark In reply to ??? [2013-04-07 05:01:03 +0000 UTC]

Im stunned 0.0 it just all comes together so amazingly!

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Birvan In reply to RavingShark [2013-04-07 14:18:31 +0000 UTC]

I need to perfect it though

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RavingShark In reply to Birvan [2013-04-07 16:54:30 +0000 UTC]

Well the only thing that you could perfect anymore is maybe the artwork itself. Btw why did the giants lose their 2nd pair of arms? I think it would be cool to have one pair of arms for carrying their babies/food.

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Birvan In reply to RavingShark [2013-04-07 22:10:47 +0000 UTC]

That and draw more sub-species

Most did, but some smaller one actually retained them

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jrhyder In reply to ??? [2012-12-16 01:02:58 +0000 UTC]

this is awesome.

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Birvan In reply to jrhyder [2012-12-16 01:31:52 +0000 UTC]

Thank you ^^

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DOTB18 [2012-09-23 20:30:43 +0000 UTC]

I'm curious, for the flying hexapods (dragons, gryphons, pegasi, etc.), why did you make the front limbs the wings? I mean, wouldn't it have made a bit more sense if the wings were the central limbs?

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Birvan In reply to DOTB18 [2012-09-26 18:10:05 +0000 UTC]

Because of how their ancestors evolved
At first the front limbs developed colorful membranes as a threat display. And since that also involved trying to stand as tall as they could to look larger and more intimidating, that's why the front limbs developed those instead of the middle ones

Another lesser reason is the collarbones. They provide an anchor for the arm muscles and provide more power to the movement
Also if the wings are the front limbs, that leaves more room along the upper body for the chest muscles (they need to be huge to lift the entire body in the air)

This is just a point of view. I'm not forcing anyone to follow my personal perspective

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DOTB18 In reply to Birvan [2012-09-27 00:48:14 +0000 UTC]

I guess that makes sense.

Had it been up to me, though, I would have made the central limbs the wings for a few reasons. For starters, I would expect they were descended from arboreal gliders (which seems to be the consistent evolutionary pattern among flying vertabrates, ie; tree-climbing > gliding flight > powered flight) and so the ancestor would probably have a limb/membrane configuration akin to Lexington from Gargoyles. Also, making the central limbs the wings would bring the animal's center of gravity towards the middle instead of way out in front. I really mean no offence, but your front-limb-wing designs seem a little back heavy.

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Birvan In reply to DOTB18 [2012-09-27 12:23:31 +0000 UTC]

That's another possibility

As for the back heavy, that's a bit of an illusion (I don't know how to explain without an open wing diagram). The only real factor that makes the back heavy is the legs, and that happens on both designs

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TheMorlock In reply to ??? [2012-09-11 04:16:40 +0000 UTC]

How come the giant has two arms and two legs?

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Birvan In reply to TheMorlock [2012-09-11 18:55:19 +0000 UTC]

Same way dolphins and whales lost their legs. They became evolutionary irrelevant

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TheMorlock In reply to Birvan [2012-09-12 04:20:25 +0000 UTC]

I see. A four-armed giant would be cool, though.

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Birvan In reply to TheMorlock [2012-09-13 13:35:55 +0000 UTC]

I'm not excluding them. These only represent the general families

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TheMorlock In reply to Birvan [2012-09-13 16:40:34 +0000 UTC]

I see.

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Evometheus6082 In reply to ??? [2012-08-16 12:28:14 +0000 UTC]

I always figured that these animals except the giant evolved from a smaller relative of the dimetrodon

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Birvan In reply to Evometheus6082 [2012-08-19 21:40:51 +0000 UTC]

This is just one of many possibilities

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BlackberryFinn In reply to ??? [2012-06-02 04:12:55 +0000 UTC]

Oh, I think that the 2nd set of limbs would not have vanished completely, it would probably develop into something tiny and useless, like the vestigial hind leg bones of dolphins and whales.

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Birvan In reply to BlackberryFinn [2012-06-13 23:25:31 +0000 UTC]

Either way there would be no arms remaining to be of any use. Except in some sub-species, that managed to retain them

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RavinWood In reply to ??? [2012-05-27 17:35:34 +0000 UTC]

this is very similer to how i think they evalved however u forgot Pegacie. id think thay would be cusen to the Griffen Hippogriff line. id love to descuse this evolution line wih u and compair notes

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Birvan In reply to RavinWood [2012-05-29 16:08:49 +0000 UTC]

The one at the bottom left corner is one. I just didn't literally use a horse, but a creature that resembled one from a distance

I would love having a chat about this, but I do request you to write in proper english. It's not my native language to begin with

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ElSqiubbonator In reply to ??? [2012-05-16 22:43:42 +0000 UTC]

YOU STOLE MY IDEA! I had this whole idea for a lineage of six-limbed vertebrates descended from relatives of lobe-finned fish. I must admit, though, none of the sketches I made were as good-looking as yours.

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Birvan In reply to ElSqiubbonator [2012-05-18 23:02:03 +0000 UTC]

Excuse me?
I came up with this idea entirely on my own. I never researched for inspiration, besides scientific images of specific animals
Besides the idea of a six-limbed creature evolving from a lobe-finned fish is not exactly novel. All it takes is tracing back the vertebrate evolution until you finally bump into an animal that could be the origin for hexaped locomotion

Also people having the same idea does not mean one stole from the other. It's just a coincidence, same way a flying squirrel and a sugar glider are similar, but completely unrelated

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